Adjustable basket divider



Oct. 27, 1959 S. H. SKOLFIELD T AL ADJUSTABLE BASKET DIVIDER Filed June 23, 1958 l N VENTOR5 541mm MIKdZF/ILD #400 s. Eva/Mi, J9.

FIG-4 mgeaza ITTOIA/IK! United States Patent 2. 1 ADJUSTABLE BASKET nrvmnn Samuel H. Skolfield, San Francisco, and V Harold-S. Rubidge, Jr., Oakland,

Application June 23, 1958, Serial No. 743,896

3 Claims. 01. 211-184 This invention relates to dividers for wire basket shelves and the like.

Continuous running baskets, or wire basket shelves, are extensively used in supermarkets and elsewhere. For closing the ends and for dividing the continuous running basket into sections, removable wire dividers are employed. Since the baskets are provided in several different standard depth, such as 12 inches, 14 inches, and 16 inches, and since a plurality of such sizes are frequently used in a single market, it has heretofore been necessary to make and stock several different sizes of dividers. The principal object of this invention is to provide a removable basket divider that can readily be adjusted to fit wire baskets of different depths.

According to the invention, a wire basket divider is made in two connected parts, with an upright wire of one part fitting selectively into folds of two horizontal members of the other part, and being resiliently urged into said folds by other horizontal wires of the last-mentioned part. By' moving the upright wire from one set of folds to another, the length of the divider is readily adjusted.

The invention may be better understood from the following illustrative description and the accompanying drawings.

Fig. l of the drawings is a somewhat schematic fragmentary projection of a continuous running basket and its supports.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the same basket with an attached divider embodying this invention.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same novel basket divider drawn to a larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same divider.

With continuing reference to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 a portion of a partition such as may be found between the aisles in a supermarket. On each side of the partition, shelf brackets 12 may be attached at intervals to conventional standards '14. A running basket type of shelf is supported on brackets 12 and extends horizontally along the aisle. The construction of the running baskets is conventional and well known. By way of example, the running basket may be made up of any desired number of open-ended wire baskets placed in end-to-end relation, and generally comprising a plurality of transverse, equally spaced, parallel wires, each having an upstanding back portion 16, a horizontal bottom section 18, and an upwardly and inwardly curved front or lip portion 20. These transverse wires may be joined together and the basket completed by any appropriate number of longitudinal wires 22. A strip 24 for holding price or article identification cards may be secured to the front lip of the basket as shown.

The novel, removable basket divider illustrated in Figs.

2, 3, and 4 is used to close the ends of the running basket and to divide the basket lengthwise into compartments of various widths. As will presently appear, the divider can be adjusted in length for use with baskets of different depth.

The divider comprises two connected, substantially flat vertical wire sections or parts: a front part and a rear part. The front part has a four sided wire frame 26 with and is spaced a bit in front of the vertical back portion v,

26 of the frame, as shown. A plurality of horizontal wires 30 are secured at their opposite ends to the vertical cross wire 28 and the front of the frame 26.. One at.

the horizontal wires, designated 30, extends beyond the front end of frame 26 andhas its free end formed into a degree bend defining a hook, as'shown.

The rear part of the divider comprises a supine U-shaped wire frame 32 having opposite top and bottom horizontal legs or portions joined at their front ends by a vertical base portion. The free back ends of the two horizontal legs have 180 degree bends forming two vertically alined hooks 32, as shown. A vertical cross wire 34 is joined at its opposite ends onto the top and bottom legs of frame 32 a bit forward of its rear end. A plurality of horizontal wires 36 extend between the vertical cross wire 34 and the vertical base of frame 32.

Between cross wire 34 and the vertical base of the U-shaped frame 32, the top and bottom legs of the frame have a plurality of spaced, horizontal V-shaped folds arranged in vertically alined pairs 38, 38, and 38", as shown. The vertical back portion 26' of frame 26 extends between frame 32 and wires 36, as shown, so that wires 36 resiliently urge portion '26 into a pair of the loops 38, 38' and 38". By applying sufficient force to flex the wire parts slightly, portion 26 can be moved from one pair of a lined loop to another, and thus the length of the divider can be adjusted.

To insert a divider to close the end of a basket, or to divide the length of the running basket into sections, the length of the divider is adjusted as aforesaid into correspondence with the depth of the basket. The divider is then set in an upright position transversely of the basket (Fig. 2) with the two hooks 32 looped around the upright rear portion 16 of the selected transverse wire, and hook 30 looped about the front or lip portion 20 of the same transverse wire. The tension on the divider due to the engagement of the hooks with the selected wire of the basket will hold the front and rear sections of the divider in substantially coplanar relation. As many dividers as desired may be used along the length of the running basket in addition to the dividers which close the ends.

In its broader aspects, the invention is not limited to the specific example illustrated and described. What is claimed is this:

1. A basket divider consisting essentially of two connected and substantially flat vertical sections, one of said sections including top and bottom horizontal wire portions formed With a plurality of vertically alined pairs of substantially V-shaped folds, the same one of said sections including a plurality of additional horizontal wires disposed substantially in a vertical plane between said top and bottom wire portions, the other of said sections including a vertical wire portion extending between said top and bottom portions and said additional wires, with said additional wires resiliently urging said vertical wire portion into said V-shaped folds, whereby said vertical portion can be forcibly moved from one alined pair of said folds to another for adjusting the overall length of said divider.

2. A basket divider as in claim 1, wherein one of said sections additionally includes a pair of vertically alined hooks extending backward for attachment to the back of a wire basket, and the other of said sections addition- 1 Patented Oct. 27,1959

ally includes a hook extending forward for attachment to the frontof the basket. I

3. A basket divider consisting essentially of front and rear connected and substantially fiat vertical sections, said rear section comprising a supine U-shapedwire frame having horizontal top and bottom legs and a vertical base, the ends of saidlegs 'being bent into two vertically alined hooks for attachment to the back of a wire basket, a vertical cross wire attached to and extending between said top and bottom legs forward of said hooks, said top and bottom legs being provided with a plurality of vertically alined pair of horizontal V-shaped folds between said cross wire and said base, and a plurality of additional horizontal wires attached to and extending between said cross Wire and said base, said front section comprising a four-sided wire frame having a vertical back portion, horizontal top and bottom portions and a curved back portion extending bewires of the rear section with said additional wires resiliently urging said vertical back portion into said V-shaped folds, whereby said vertical back portion can be forcibly moved from one alined pair of said folds to another for adjusting the over-all length of said divider, a vertical cross wire attached to and extending between said top and b ottom portions of said four-sided frame, a plurality of horizontal wires attached to and extending between the last-mentioned cross Wire and said curved front portion, one of the last-mentioned horizontal Wires extending forward beyond said front portion and being bent into a hookforattachment to the front of a wire basket.

No references cited. 

